Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of user interfaces. More particularly, this invention relates to the navigation of user interfaces designed for orthogonal (Up/Down/Left/Right) navigation using pointer-based remotes.
Description of Related Art
Existing user interface navigation schemes, such as for TV User Interfaces, utilize D-Pad (Directional Pad) input or, more recently, pointer-based navigation using gyro or other types of remote controls. The D-pad input restricts design of the user interface to support horizontal and/or vertical navigation sometimes resulting in inefficient navigation. The pointer-based navigation removes the restriction of user interface element placement but forces the UI to use an indicator, such as an arrow or pointer, to traverse the screen real-estate to highlight the desired item—this may result in traversing empty screen area which can also be inefficient.